George Coetzee

George Coetzee is one of golf’s most talented players and won his maiden European Tour title at the Joburg Open in February 2014, having previously finished in the top 10 on 24 occasions.

He added his second title in March 2015, when he won the Tshwane Open on his home course, Pretoria Country Club.

The South African, who idolised Ernie Els as a youngster, took up the game at the age of 10, going against his father’s wishes for him to become a professional tennis player.

George left the amateur ranks in in 2007 and joined the Sunshine Tour. He won in his rookie season at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Selborne before triumphing at the SAA Pro-Am Invitational and the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour event at Humewood in 2008. He won twice in 2011, at the Telkom PGA Championship and Gary Player Invitational respectively.

After eight European Tour top-tens the previous year, George claimed eight more in 2012 and finished 21st in the Race to Dubai. His consistent form resulted in him entering the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, which guaranteed his place at the Masters Tournament at Augusta.

George also played in the remaining three major championships in 2013 before suffering a wrist injury.

He returned to his best form in 2014, though, finishing fourth and fifth at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Commercial Bank Qatar Masters before securing a superb three-shot victory on home soil in Johannesburg.

After another consistent season, George finished 23rd in the Race to Dubai in 2014.

George began 2015 in style with a final round of 65 securing him a second European Tour win in little over 12 months at the Tshwane Open. 

He was frustrated not to progress from his group despite winning two of his three matches at the WGC Cadillac Match Play in San Francisco.

But George picked up a second win of the 2015, just eight weeks after his triumph at the Tshwane Open, beating Thorbjorn Olesen on the play-off hole at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.